On the other side, the sky's still blue
by happypills27
Summary: Kari's life wasn't perfect. It never was, but she learned to live with it. It wasn't till the day she confronts her problems that she has had enough. While trying to get away from everything she finds herself waking up in a different world entirely. One that has to do with her past & having to find out the reason why she's there. Not Mary-sue, I swear. Kili/OC
1. Prologue

**Well hello there(: Thank you so much for wanting to read my story. A couple of things you should know before you this. First this is my first ever fanfic. I wasn't sure if I was any good but my best friend kind of threatened me if I didn't but well if you don't like and think I'm a horrible writer just tell me and I'll stop. Also tell me if I have any mistakes. I just moved back from Mexico so starting to write in English again is somewhat annoying since I keep mixing it up with Spanish so…**

**Second of all this is not a Mary-sue story. I swear no matter how much it sounds like it, it isn't. It has a weird plot story but it isn't Mary-sue okay?**

**Well I will leave you now to make your own evaluation. Please review so I know what you really think.**

**Byee(:**

prologue:

The sound of running water was mixed with the soft breeze of the wind that had passed through all the leaves of every tree bring back the sweet smell of nature. But this of course could not ease the mind of the woman who was gazing at the small pool of water inside a fountain.

Normally to anyone of the beings that lived there and were around her daily could have said this was nothing out of the ordinary but this was not the case.

She had spent the entire day of yesterday circling the fountain and had begun that day much the same. On her beautiful face had begun to form a frown.

Many tried to get inside or least to tell them what was disturbing her so but all she did was wave them off saying it was no concern of theirs. Not even her husband could get to her but then again he also waved it off stating whatever it is must not be anything that bad or else she would have already shared the information. When this matter no longer holds her interest all will be forgotten.

The woman with long golden hair smiled sadly having heard the comment. This matter unfortunately would be holding her interest for much longer. Especially if the person she was seeking council, was making the statement of showing up late.

Of course she knew that in that precise moment he had appeared for she was in tuned with his thoughts.

"It seems you enjoy making everyone wait, does it not?" scolding him softly without looking at him.

"All things come in good time," saying a-matter-factly.

Finally she turned to him. Her face grave. "Sadly, that is what we do not have. Time."

"Tell me. What is troubling you?"

"It is the girl."

The man stroked his long beard thoughtfully. "She is the same one from all your other visions?" "Yes."

"Hmmm," he paced around the small garden where they found themselves. Stopping in front of the fountain across from the golden haired woman. "What does this have to do with anything? Why does this girl haunt you so much?"

She gazed at the water watching as it ripped where the wind softly touched it. "I do not know why I am so drawn to her, Mithrandir, although I can tell you this. She is coming here."

Mithrandir stopped short from his resumed pacing. "What do you mean by 'coming here'? Do you mean to Lothlorien? From where?"

"She is not from the world, the which you and I both have come to know. She is a part of something entirely distinct."

"You mean to tell me that this girl is from another world? Coming to ours? Why? How is that possible?"

Her eyes flashed with anger, something that rarely happened especially in the presence of Mithrandir. "There are some questions not even I know the answer. It is the will of the Valar what more do you need to know?"

The old man huffed. "Nothing. I am sorry Galadriel for my inquiries. I must take my leave now. I am late for a reunion," saying as he started to walk away.

"I have yet to inform you of why this holds any importance to you," she said softly.

"I assumed it did not." Not stopping.

"You are correct. It does not. But it will for your companions on your journey." When he ignored that she continued. "Especially for those of the line of Durin." That stopped him.

Turning his face towards the lady of Lorien. "Why am I not surprised that you knew of this?" Galadriel smiled.

The wizard sighed and turned around once more. "Tell me how to find the girl." Finally accepting there was no other way around this. Valar help him as he tried to think of a good enough of an explanation for those of the company.

"She will come to this world on the same day you begin your journey." Mithrandir nodded slowly to himself until he caught the small smirk on the golden haired beauty. He frowned. "It will not be that simple will it?"

"No. Unfortunately you will have to look for her for she will not be on the road you will take."

"It was to be expected. The Valar enjoy making everything more difficult then what it needs to be. Especially for me. How am I to explain this to the dwarves?" he muttered as he, what he thought was the last time, moved to leave.

"Mithrandir, one last thing." When she paused he asked ", what more is there?"

He turned only enough to be able to see her face. What surprised him was how grim it was. "Once you start on the road passing Bree, you must begin the search immediately. For if you are to late in finding her," she paused looking him directly in the eye. "I fear she will not live to fulfill her purpose here."

**Well here it is the first chapter. Okay maybe its not but still. Please review to tell me what you think. And feel free to PM me whenever you feel like it(: **

**Byee for now**

**~Happypills27**


	2. Chapter 1

**I'm so sorry for not updating but I had to get my hands on a computer first soo… **

**Well first many many thanks to Jaxx Ren, MerlynnPendragon, silentmidnightdeath for following and favoring. You are so amazing!**

**Special thanks to Riversong19 for that amazing review. Wow. You just made my day and really inspired me to continue. So this chapter is dedicated to you .**

**Hope you all enjoy.**

"_I would rather spend one lifetime with you then face all the ages of the world alone."_

"_There is nothing for you here. Only death."_

"_If I leave him now, I will regret it forever."_

"_It was a dream. Nothing more."_

"_I choose a mortal life."_

Kari opened her eyes. She already had this dream, several times before. So why was it, that every time she heard that last sentence, it stirred something deep inside her?

She could hear the wind rustling the leaves of the trees outside her apartment window and the bubbling water in the small downhill creek. Any other day this would have been enough to sooth her but the voices from her dreams kept haunting her.

While trying to reason with herself if this had any importance, she failed to notice the flying pillow sailing towards her face.

"OW! What was that for?" she laughed. A female voice came out of the bathroom across from Kari's room saying, "You had a stupid face on and as your best friend and roommate I have the obligation to do something about it."

Kari just fell back into bed, pulling the covers over her face. "So Emma, what are we going to do today? I heard you got a _daatee," _she said with a muffled voice.

Emma nearly choked on the toothpaste inside her mouth. "Who the fuck told you?!"

"I have my contacts," Kari said rather smug, taking off the covers, "but really, with who?"

A small girl with dark golden skin walked into Kari's room. Her long raven colored hair was already in its naturally strait locks. Her black almond shaped eyes were accusing, her button nose was wrinkled and her tan lips were pursed.

"If I tell you will you promise not to get mad?"

"Oh god. Who is it?" she hesitated. "Armani."

Kari's eyes narrowed. "You are dead to me," and with that she got up from the bed to move to her closet. She was halfway there when someone from behind tackled her to the ground then pinned her.

"Will you get off of me! Do you have any idea of how much you weigh?" she screamed while trashing around trying to get Emma off of her.

"What are you talking about I weigh the same as you!" Kari stopped moving. "_Ohh yeah…"_

Emma took advantage of that moment to try to talk to her saying, "Look I know you don't like him-" "I despise him." "Ok, yes that too, but I mean come on its just going to be this one date and you will never again going to see him ever. EVER."

Kari just stared at her. "You said that 7 dates ago." "I didn't mean that then." "How do I know you mean it now?"

"You'll just have to trust me!" she screamed flinging her arms in the air.

Kari pursed her lips. "Fine but just this last time…. NOW GET OFF OF ME!"

She just laughed at Kari's red face while getting up. She was just getting to the door when she remembered something else. "Oh hey, get ready today is house hunting day!"

Kari visibly perked up at this piece of information. "Really? Its today?" and ran to her closet to look for clothes.

Emma just watched her best friends tactics of trying to get a foot in her pants while trying to brush her hair at the same time, shaking her head in laughter. The last thing she heard while walking back to her room was a _thump, _and a distant, "oww…"

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"I HATE YOU!" Kari screamed at the speeding car that just minutes ago had been carrying her.

They're day had not gone in vain. They had found the perfect house in one of those communities of houses with a name just along the side of the city of Moore, Oklahoma.

Although in that moment couldn't remember the name of the community she could mention every detail of the house.

A beautiful Victorian styled three storied home with copper outlines that were already turning themselves green. It was one of the few houses connected to a small lake and also had a small but vast forest in the backyard. There was even a little waterfall on a far edge where the forest and lake connected.

It was perfect, like something from a book, made up. Unfortunely the price was also unrealistic.

It was too much. Neither Emma nor Kari could get that much money but they knew exactly where to get it.

Kari's parents were unbelievably rich. They always had been. They were a very well respected family, known to all the community of Oklahoma, and all this rose to their heads making them not take to kindly that their only daughter, heir to everything they had, did not want it.

This of course never stopped her grandmother from giving everything she could to her only grandchild but unlike her parents, she gave Kari things to help her a future when in case she were to be left with nothing, like an education a good school.

Kari took this chance to go study in Mexico, where she met Emma, only to return to find out her dear grandmother passed away, leaving her absolutely everything in her name skipping her daughter saying she had Kari's father's money.

Again this did not make her parents happy but Kari didn't care anymore. She got enough money to bring Emma with her to Oklahoma since Emma had just recently lost her parents a year prior and Kari didn't want both of them to feel alone.

Emma knew the whole story of course. So it was only obvious that this would be the solution to the house.

Although Kari also thought it was a good idea, to be able to finally get a use of all that money, she was terrified. She had left all the account numbers and passwords with her parents and she wasn't sure she was going to get them back.

After many mental arguments she decided against just going to the bank with her papers to get into her account, to just suck it up and act like a big girl to confront her parents.

It was going great until she got out of the car. She took a deep breath then froze and whipped around trying to open the door to the car. Emma had already suspected this and locked the door. When Kari started pounding on the window, Emma drove away, leaving a wide-eyed girl behind.

**I really hope you like I'm going to try to update in a little bit if I can finish it cause I already started the next chapter so…**

**Just a quick note. Yes, Emma does exist. She's the idiot that made me post this, so I think it would be a good idea to add her as a thank you cause I love her!**

**Plus if Kari starts to act like a mental hospital patient, I now have someone to blame(: Please, please review even if its to tell me how bad it is. Just so I know what to do to make it better, k? **


	3. Chapter 2

**Thank you to ladymoonscar, Chilled Souls of the Forgotten,** **hannabeast1, jbaynes,** **MistyMountain, BleckBlah5956 for reviewing and following.**

**TolkienGeek: Thank you so much for the review. I'll try to make them as long as possible…how's this one? As for updating I currently have no computer in my house to work on my story or update but I have found a solution and I hope it works the way I want it to.**

**Chilled Souls of the Forgotten: Thank you so much for the support (:**

Kari stomped to the front door muttering unrecognizable words under her breath. This did not distract her from the fact that she was now right in front of the door. She was suddenly tempted with run away to her little apartment, get under the covers, and pretend today never happened.

_No. I wont do that. Not anymore. _She thought determined. This was the last time she let her parents strike fear in her heart.

She ringed the doorbell. Footsteps were heard as they echoed from inside the house. One of the huge white oak doors opened partially and a tired voice came out.

"May I help you?" said the house lady, Beatrice. Kari smiled. This was the lady that had taken care of her since she was born. She taught her so many things; one of the most important things was that what you had did not define you but what was in your heart. Kari would be ever grateful to this lovely small old woman.

"Am I not allowed to enter the house in the which you raised me without so many questions?" she said sweetly as if speaking to a child who had just complemented her.

The door whipped open. "Karialynn? Sweetheart what brings you here?" a little old lady came out with a crinkled smile and her arms wide open. Kari hugged her gently since she feared that the slightest touch would bruise her although she reminded herself this was the woman who had so many times would chase her around trying to get her in the shower. "Hi, Betty."

When Betty was finally done with all the hugging, and checking over, Kari finally stopped laughing and got serious.

"I came to talk to my parents," she said slowly. Beatrice signed. "I imagined as much," she narrowed her eyes ", you never come visit me."

Kari laughed and hugged the old maid and kissed her forehead. "That only worked when you were tiny and cute." Even though she meant it with a hard tone, Kari could hear the smile in her voice and knew she was already forgiven.

This is what she missed the most.

A piercing voice cut through the happy atmosphere like a knife saying ", Beatrice, _who _is that at the door?"

Beatrice flashed her eyes at Kari wide-eyed not knowing what to say. "Its just… uh…" she stammered.

_Ah sweet Betty, she doesn't want any confrontation, too bad that's why I'm here._

Kari just nodded to her and stepped into the house making her way to her parent's study, where she knew they would be.

Sure enough opening the door, she came face to face with her parent's forms. Her father was reading another of those 400-page books he kept in his private library. Something he had passed onto Kari. A passion for books, to read, to be filled with new knowledge of anything humanly possible be it fiction, or not.

Seeing him there reminded her of happier times like when he first found out about the hobby. He would take into the library make her choose a book then read it to her until it was done. Much had changed since then.

Her mother was going through several papers laid out in front of her on her desk. _Most likely for another party of hers for her friends, _Kari thought bitterly.

"Bea…," Kari's mother, Magna, choked on the word when she finally saw who was in the door way.

"Hello mother, how have you been?" she replied as politely as she could, trying to keep her voice professional and nothing more.

"Karialynn? What are _you _doing here?" Something about her voice reminded Kari of the personality of a snake, trying to convince you of something but with an unpleasant feeling behind it.

"Karialynn?" She had finally gotten the attention of her father, Macario. "What are…I mean how are you honey?"

Kari sighed and walked into the enormous study. It had been a long time since she had been there and it seemed just as big as it did then.

"I um actually I…" she began to stutter because of how nervous she was.

"Will you just spit it out? Or is that to difficult for you as well?" Her mother said through clenched teeth.

That made something snap in Kari but she used all of her self-control to not yell at the woman that gave birth to her.

"I came for my money. "She stated simply crossing her arms in front of her.

"What do you mean _your money_?" Magna hissed. "As I recall, you wanted nothing to do with it! " She rose from the wide 1800's styled desk of hers and stalked over to stand over Kari.

"That does not change the fact that it is mine!"

The quiet grew eerie. The only thing that Kari could hear was the pounding of her heart in her ears. She stared down her mother.

Magna after a few more seconds of glaring suddenly relaxed. "Karialynn, honey, of course we'll give you the money."

This time, even Macario turned to look at her; both he and Kari had similar looks of disbelief.

"You will?" Kari mentally kicked herself for sounding like a little child, but she just couldn't believe; she had done it!

"Of course…though you have to do something as well in return," she looked down at her already perfect nails.

_Oh god how could I be so stupid?_ Kari felt devastated. _You should have known it was never going to be that easy!_

"What do you want?" asked Kari bitterly. She considered just walking away; maybe if she hurried she could go to the bank to see if there was a chance over there.

Her mother began to walk back to her desk and search through all the papers there.

"First-""Oh there's more than one?" "First," her mother refused to be interrupted ", you will come back here where you live and eventually find a nice young man of money for you to marry."

Kari started to gag.

"Second, you shall resume your lessons again. **All** of them." Kari tried to remember the classes she had before she had left but stopped when the number went over fifteen.

"And finally," Kari threw her arms in the air. "What more is there?"

Magna narrowed her eyes but instead of ignoring her she came back up to Kari. Her face was grim as she said ", I want you to forget about that little friend of yours. The one you brought back."

Kari searched her eyes. Had she always been so cold? There had to be a heart in there somewhere right?

Kari shook her head. "You will never change, will you?" She began to walk away.

A long pale arm snaked out and caught Kari's arms, digging their nail in the skin.

"OW! LET GO OF ME!" Macario who had been watching from afar stepped in.

"Magna! Just let her go!" he tried to pry Magna's hand off but her nails just keep going further in causing blood to flow freely.

Kari's mother pulled her face up toward her own, their noses touching.

"What ever happened to that sweet little girl who did everything I told her? When did she become so disobedient? Does she not even have the courage to look me in the eyes and speak!" she spited in Kari's face.

The hand suddenly let go throwing the arm back to its owner. The pain slowly lessened until all that Kari could feel was a slight throbbing.

Kari considered just leaving, to not lower herself to that level and she started to. It was the next words out of her mother's mouth that made her turn around in rage.

"I always knew you were weak. It really is a shame, you could have been great, if you had been more like me but instead you became your grandmother."

"You have no right, saying that! You are a horrible human being! Can't you see! **I tried,** ok? I really did try. I tried to make you proud, to make you love me, to notice me, something! But it was never enough. And yes there was a time I wanted to be just like you and maybe if you ever spent time with me or even talked to me about my day, or, or…I don't know if you had just been there for me, I could have turned out just like you because you were the most important person to me!" tears had begun to stream down Karialynn's face ", but I didn't I realized that no matter what I did you just wouldn't care…. So I became the only person I needed to impress, well of course later on, so did my grandma but that's something else entirely… you see? It's your own fault. I am your exact opposite and you know what? I couldn't be happier."

She turned and walked back to the door but paused.

"You can still be me you know? If its approval you need, you have it."

Kari just gave a small sad smile. "You just don't get it right?" and with one last shake of her head left the room.

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"Actually I'm at The Oaks." Kari explained to Emma.

After leaving her parents' house she decided to get a taxi and go to her favorite place in the world, The Oaks.

The Oaks was the name for a small forest Kari had one day found in the outskirts of Oklahoma. It was the one place she could go to be alone, to just breathe. The only other person that knew Kari went there was Emma, but Emma wasn't the type to do that kind of thing, she couldn't be silent, she needed to move. Once she had used the excuse when Kari had invited her that this place was for Kari alone, that it was her place, something she needed to do alone. Of course Kari already knew she was just saying that to get off the hook and go on the date she had planned for that night.

Kari shook her head, smirking at the memory. It's not that she didn't like spending time with her best friend but she was kind of glad that Emma didn't want to come.

After paying the taxi driver and watching the small yellow car drive away, she started her way into the woods.

She began to breathe the clean air, look up into the treetops and look at the now small specks of blue sky. This day could have been perfect but right now her mind was to troubled.

She continued to walk through the trees but now with a frown on her face.

She was so deep in thought that she didn't even remember where she was or much less which way she was going until she walked face first into a tree.

"Ow! Wait…what?" she looked up to the tree that had just harassed her.

It was huge of course but this one was different. It looked like it had a face. A couple of its branches were facing down like arms. It also had moss growing over its trunk making it look like the tree had a beard. Kari smiled.

"Well then, I think I gentleman like yourself should at least apologize for hitting a lady like myself, don't you think?" Kari crossed her arms in front of her chest and raised an eyebrow at the tree. "Well that isn't very polite. Ha-ha." She just shook her head and laughed at her silliness for talking to a tree and expecting an answer but that was why she was here, to just be careless and playful and not have to worry.

She was already a few feet away still smiling, when she heard the whispers.

She whirled around to look for the source but found none. She shrugged it off and began her way again.

"Now how am I supposed to find my way back?"

The whispers rose again. Again Kari turned around but slowly this time. The voices died down.

"Hello? Is someone there?" Nothing.

"Oh god I'm going crazy," Kari muttered as she looked around for the person whispering. Finally she just stopped moving and strained her ears.

The voices were still there. Kari moved toward the noise and instead of ceasing they got louder. She continued to make her way towards the sound but was suddenly cut off by the same tree that had assaulted her before.

"The voices are coming from…_inside the tree? _Ok now I really am going crazy," she put her head in her hands.

"_Open….opeen…open your eyes…."_

Kari's head shot up. That was the most sense the whispering had made.

"_They're leaving…"_

"…_a lifetime…"_

"_The path is hidden…"_

The voices were coming from all sides now. They hurt Kari's head but she kept twirling around to look for the source. The trees started spinning and she was getting desperate. Suddenly everything stopped. The voices and the spinning, leaving just one voice that said one sentence that chilled Kari to the bone.

"_I chose a mortal life."_

_No, _was the last thought Kari had before a white enveloped her and she lost consciousness.

**I am so sorry for the delay but at least I made it longer! Ha-ha plus my cousin is going to do me the immense favor of posting this for me and she's also going to read this to get all my mistakes out. Thank you my dear Crystal (:**

**So I'm hoping to get the next chapter by the end of this week since I can now work at it at school so.. Yeah.**

**Review comments, suggestions, even though it's to tell me it's all wrong I want to know. Goodbye then (:**


	4. Chapter 3

**Thank you to weareserialkillers, jacisnaps, basketball4444, BadLuck92, Chocking On A Dream and Rae01 for reviewing and following.**

**Jacisnaps: I'm glad you like Kari, I'm really trying to make her more normal, I guess(: Here's the next chapter.**

In the breeze, fluttered single strands of dark brown hair with a touch of auburn. Other than the light sound of rustling leaves, the entire scenery was silent. Right in the middle of all the towering trees was the single body of a girl.

Kari moaned as she lifted her head. She had a massive headache and she could hear ringing. She tried to open her eyes but the light from the sun blinded her. With a shaking hand she covered them.

She dropped her head towards the floor of the ground and once again tried to open her eyes. At first she didn't think anything unusual. Kari remembered going to the woods, of course that was the only thing she could, so it didn't surprise her to see just grass. But that was it, just grass. She couldn't see anything out of the corner of her eyes because of a think curtain of hair blocked her view.

Kari fell back with a small cry and grabbed the ends of her hair forward to look at the length. She was able to stretch her arms with it.

"What the he….." she then noticed she was wearing sleeves.

She began to get up. Although she struggled because of the spinning her head was doing but she managed. She looked at herself.

She was wearing a long-sleeved brown shirt, which was covered with a leather brown corset that had several belt strapping it onto her body.

Now Kari was not what you would call skinny. She had very round hips, no waist and her stomach wasn't exactly flat. Of course Kari had long learned to love herself just the way she was, she was now regretting not losing some weight. She could barely breathe. The leather pants with even more belts did not help that situation.

She tried to loosen the straps but only managed to make them slightly bigger by an inch. She cursed herself under her breath now secretly wishing she could be slim like Emma.

Trying to get that thought out of her head she continued to inspect herself.

She had on knee high dark brown boots, which were absolutely beautiful in Kari's opinion. Simple, but elegant.

Then she noticed the cloak. It was rimmed with gray fur at the neck and hood. It enclosed Kari's entire body, showing only half her boot down. Again she was pleased.

The sudden realization of her situation came crashing down on her once more when her eye caught a flash of light in the tall grass.

"Is that…a _sword?" _disbelief coloring her voice. Where on earth did you just come across a sword lying in the grass? More importantly how was she dressed the way she was and where the hell was she?

Karialynn took a cautious step towards the weapon, then two more.

Now that she was closer she could see that the sword was halfway into a brown leather sheath. Finally letting the curiosity get the best of her, she closed the distance between herself and the sword and picked it up but instead of the weapon she lifted the sheath causing the blade to fall back onto the ground.

Kari dropped the sheath in surprise almost thinking something bad was about to happen but after a couple of minutes, she picked up the sword once more with both hands.

She began to examine it. The blade had a goldish tint in it instead of being silver, how Kari had always thought them to be. The hilt was gold-red. It had several spirals decorating that after much studying it, Kari realized they were roses.

"Well, this is not what I expected a sword to look like. I mean really, it looks more for décor then killing….OH GOD!" _KILLING? Really killing? _She began to pace around the small clearing where she found herself. What the hell was she doing with this, why? Was this some type of joke?

Kari started to panic. She kept muttering things under her breath acting like a crazy person. She was interrupted by a sudden screech that cut through the air.

Though the sound sent chills throughout Kari's body, she quickly made up her mind.

She was walking the other direction.

Kari had seen to many movies where the girl would always go check out what the weird noise was then got killed. She was not going to run that risk. Besides until she found out what happened to her, she rather not go straying off in some unknown direction in search of who knows what.

She looked down at the mysterious weapon. She might as well use it for self-defense while she had it.

She quickly sheathed the blade and tied it around her waist. Once it was secured she scanned her surroundings.

To anyone else, they would have said they were in the same forest as before but not Kari.

She knew her forest; she had been there so many times she could recognize which direction was which just by looking at the trees. These trees were completely distinct.

The trees were immense. They looked like skyscrapers. All of their top branches huddled together cutting any view of the sky, but the light passing through the cracks convinced Kari it was day out.

This was not helping her situation. She took a deep breath and weighed her options. She could stay where she was and hope that came by or she could go in some random direction looking for it.

She decided to walk. Kari did not want to wait for the person that had brought her here; she'd rather go and look for someone to help.

She started in the direction opposite of where the noise had come through.

She just hoped she had done the right thing.

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"Where the hell is civilization?!" Kari screamed towards the sky.

She had been walking for an hour and a half and still all she could see was trees from every side.

_Great now I'm lost,_ she thought to herself. _How did this even happen?_

She was exhausted. She hadn't stopped for anything, and she still hadn't eaten or drank anything.

She shoveled her feet until she came to a small patch of grass with no rocks over it and laid down.

_What if I die out here? What if I never come back? _Her heart began to race. She tried to get those thoughts out of her mind. She was not going to give up without giving it her all…but for that moment all she wanted to do was sleep.

Kari closed her eyes. She was slowly drifting until she heard the low mixture of hissing and gurgling.

She slowly lifted her head and rolled her body so she was lying on her stomach. She looked around her but found no one. She began to think she dreamt it but the sound started again and she was wide awake.

It sounded like a voice, saying something in a language Kari didn't understand which was unusual. Her mother had forced her to take several foreign language classes and it was rare when she heard one she didn't know or at least heard of. This was neither.

She stood as quietly as possible and advanced towards the voice. She was cut off by a couple bushes. Perfect, this way she could stay hidden if necessary.

She peeked through some branches to look at the figure speaking. She quickly covered her mouth to stop herself from screaming.

The owner of the voice was some type of _creature._ It looked like something from a nightmare or a horror film. It didn't look natural. In its clawed hands was a huge piece of red, bloody meat. Something was strange about it.

Kari tried to figure what it was but didn't figure it out until she saw the pieces of clothing adorning the floor and the pair of boots carelessly thrown away.

_Its…that….a human? _She felt nauseated. That thing killed a person and was _eating them._ She was going to be sick

Unfortunately, it was too much for her and she emptied the contents of her stomach on the tall grass next to her. When she was done, all she could think about was concentrating on steading her breath.

It soon became clear to her that the noises had stopped. Her eyes grew wide.

A long scaly blood-matted hand reached out and grabbed her by her hair.

"AHH! LET GO!" she trashed around trying to get the thing to let go of her.

The creature finally threw onto the ground rather violently. It spoke again in its strange language.

"I don't understand you!" she continued to scream at it.

It began to ponder for a second then began again. It spoke very slowly and the words seemed forced like it was not familiar with the language but knew words.

"-sscuum….dwaaarf-scuum," it stated in a high-pitch voice, although the words sounded as if it was drowning in them.

"Dwarf-scum? No I'm not a dwarf or scum for that matter." She hesitated this thing, was unpredictable, at any moment it will give up on her and kill her. She needed to escape quickly.

"el…ellviish-fiiilth." Once again it urged, almost like trying to get her to accept.

"I…no, no I'm _human,_ not dwarf or elf." For some reason this satisfied the creature, because it opened its mouth in what resembled a smile, showing off its broken, blackened, sharp teeth. Realization dawned on Kari. It wanted her to be human, so he could eat her also.

"oh god…," she quickly picked herself up and ran as fast as she could. Unfortunately, the thing was also fast.

It jumped on her back taking her to the ground. Kari kicked and screamed all she could. It didn't seem to work and also it hurt. For every time she managed to land a punch or open her mouth, the thing would scratch her with its long nails.

She then remembered her weapon. She gave one last kick with all her might into the things stomach, which caused it to finally roll off of her.

It recovered quickly, but Kari already had the time she needed.

She slashed the sword in all directions towards the creature hoping to land a hit. She was finally rewarded when she heard the loud screech come from its mouth.

She opened her eyes, which she had closed without knowing, and looked at the creature.

It was trashing on the ground, holding its face in its hands. Black blood was spilled over the vibrant green grass.

She stared at it until another scream brought her to the present. She once again fled.

She ran and ran. Not wanting to look back.

She never even saw the figure walk out in front of her, until she crashed into it.

Huge arms supported her from falling back onto the ground.

"NO! NOT AGAIN, NO!" A hand covered her mouth to stop her screaming.

"Girl, will you be quiet! Do you want to attract all the orcs in the area?" a voice hissed.

Kari stopped struggling and focused on the person in front of her.

It was a very tall man. He was a nice tan, natural, and had black hair and eyes. He also had a beard and wore clothes from the same time period to the one Kari's clothes would have been.

She couldn't tell whether to trust him or not.

"Come with me, girl. Well get some food into you and you can rest. You must have been very shaken up." He began to walk through the trees. Kari was still uncertain, but another loud screech had her running after the large man.

She could only hope she was right this time.

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"Here, girl have another!" another of the men said, giving her another big bowl of soup.

"Oh no, I can't I'm already full." And she really was, they had already given her three.

The man shrugged and walked off.

The huge man that had originally found her, who later told her his name was Balan , had brought her to a small campsite that held three other men, a cart full of bags of crops, and a horse.

The men kept eying her. She didn't know what to do. They didn't look at her like creeps did, they looked like she merchandise, something you wanted to buy but wasn't sure you really needed it.

At that moment she lost any further faith in her judgment to handle situations.

Several of the men, including Balan, were huddled off to the side discussing something in low voices.

The only one left was the youngest, a cocky boy that didn't look older than 19, smoking across the small makeshift fire from her.

"So what's a pretty thing like you doing out here alone in the woods fighting orcs? I thought your kind protected fiercely its women," said as he puffed a cloud of smoke towards Kari's face.

She coughed. "What do you mean my kind? Were both humans aren't we?"

Now the boy began to cough, then laughed, causing the group of men took glance over. They just shook their heads and continued their conversation.

He took in deep breaths to calm himself. Then he leaned over towards Kari looking serious but with a mocking in his voice and eyes.

"Girl, you are no human. I would have thought you would recall the race you were born into, for you are a dwarf."

Kari stood up. "What! I may be short but I'm not a dwarf!"

Then he stood up and walked over towards her. Kari could immediately see the differences of height between them. And this guy was one of the shortest of all the men present.

"I'm not a dwarf..." she whimpered as the male had a hard expression as he loomed over her.

"Turin! Stop harassing the girl! You know were not allowed to," said one of the men.

Turin looked surprised at him, and very slowly he was answered with a slight nod.

Turin reacted like a bullet, quick and sure. Before Kari knew it, her hands were bound, and she was lying on the floor.

"What the hell! Let go of me! Why are you doing this!" she screamed. One of the men came over and began to tie her feet. She searched for Balan. She found him unloading bags from the cart they owned.

"Balan!" He looked over, sighed; spoke to another man near him. While he made his way towards Kari, the other man resumed what Balan was doing.

When Balan reached Kari he crouched down so he was almost eye level with Kari, she was still 2 heads lower then he was.

He didn't say anything; all he did was looked at her with pity, being the only one that looked at her like that.

"Why? I trusted you," she whispered. He looked down, not being able to look her in the eyes.

"It's what we do," he said softly ", look for girls that are alone, girls that will not be missed." He paused.

"Then I found you. Alone, fighting off an orc… surely you had no one to be doing that! So I brought you here, where we decided where to take you, with whom."

Kari swallowed. "What exactly happens to the girls you take?" She prayed it wasn't what she was thinking. She could not go through something like that. No one should.

"Well we take them to sell them to our client. Then they… well you will soon find out. The client that you are to be taken to, has already been through 3 of our girls, we are hoping you will last longer,, since you did fight an orc…and survive."

Her eyes went wide. The fear of her sudden future, terrified her, not only for herself but for all the girls before her and the ones still to come. How many times had they done this?

Balan stood up. "Were leaving," he said loud and clear to everyone and walked away from Kari towards the cart.

Another of the huge men came over and picked her up. Her tension was building up.

It wasn't until she was thrown into the cart that she let out the blood-curling scream that was building up in her chest. In that scream she poured in all her fear and desire for someone to come and help.

"Shut her up!" shouted a voice trying to be heard over Kari's scream. "She's going to attract attention!"

All of a sudden, she felt an additional weight fall on her, knocking the wind out of her. She wheezed. Bag after bag were beginning to fall on her.

"If we keep this up shell die before we even hand her over," said a voice.

Oxygen was starting to get harder and harder to get.

"It was her own fault! She shouldn't have screamed," answered another.

Kari's chest began to hurt for the pressure applied.

She focused on trying to breath, getting oxygen into her lungs, and ignored all else. That was until she heard the battle cries.

Now the outside of the cart had her attention.

There were angry shouts, and cries being cut off. What's going on out there?

"Where is the girl?" Said a voice filled anger, and something else, anxious?

"There is no girl here, as you can see," responded a man, Balan.

"Do not lie to us, we heard the scream!" another voice cut in.

"Thorin is right, the scream came from this direction." The first voice spoke again.

"Well actually, now that you mention it, we did see a dwarf girl walk by. We also heard the scream and went to investigate. We found she was being attacked by a stray orc. We tried to help, but it was no use, by the time the orc was dead, the girl had already passed." Said Balan solemnly.

"How was that even possible?! The first voice spoke again. "There are four of you and you say there was only one orc! Are you such incompetent fools that one orc was too much for you!" the voice grew louder and louder with rage.

Everything was silent. Kari's throat burned.

"Gandalf," the second voice said softly, something with a t recalled Kari, "she's not here. We have to go."

There was a very loud sigh. "Very well, if that is all the information you can provided for us, then we must take our leave."

"Yes, yes! Well we are sorry there is nothing we can do. Was she something of yours?" One of the men spoke up instead of Balan.

"She was someone I had the intent of meeting, I had heard great things about her. Never the less, we bid you a good-bye."

Shuffling of feet sounded. _No! _Thought Kari. _They can't leave! _Screaming would do no good without any oxygen, so she tried wiggling around trying to make the bags catch one of the voices attentions, but they were too heavy. She whimpered, she didn't want to go down like this.

"Uh, Gandalf?" a new voice sounded, quieter than the others, more polite.

"Yes what is it Bilbo?" "Well I fell over this sword and it looks like it belongs to a female."

Silence. "Let me see that."

She began to see black spots. Kari thought she heard a shout but her heart pounded in her ears.

The pressure against her body and the burning of her lungs for air was becoming unbearable.

All her senses began to fail, leaving her with her eyesight only.

Meaning the last thing she saw was a light beginning to form through all the bags, when she lost total consciousness.

**Well I am so happy I got the chance to update earlier then planned:D**

**So people please, please tell me what you think. Review, PM me, whatever I don't care I just want to know what you think(:**

**I'm open for suggestions if anyone has them. Also I'm pretty sure everyone has guessed that everything is going to go slowly. I don't want to rush things. Everything has its time and what happens, happens(: I mean in the next chapter she will barely just meet the dwarves and well you need to establish trust before you go and do anything else, so I hope you enjoyed it!**


	5. Chapter 4

**Thank you to PinaMaster, Cmusiclover92, Perminatly Lost In Thought, nachobeats823, Whiteling, jazica**

**Tweetzone86: Thank you so much for the advice; I will try my best to use these tips to the fullest.**

**TolkienGeek1:Aww don't lose interest**** Well I it was going to go slow in a sense that I was going to add more scenes between the scenes of the movie, to cover more ground of things they didn't put in. Also since I do have a pairing, that was going to go more at a normal rate because well you can't have them fall in love without knowing each other but yeah you're right, it could go quicker. In this chapter Kari meets the dwarves and I'll see what else I can fit in here. I really hope you like it, tell me what you think.**

**Whiteling: Yes, talking and with honesty will help a lot for Kari to start building up trust, but you of course for her, this type of world is hard to believe considering that Middle Earth isn't the scenario of some books Tolkien created, it doesn't exist. Later on in the story you'll find out why ;) Also, if you liked the hobbit, try the Lord of the Rings, they're just as good, but of course they're by the same person.**

Kari rolled onto her side, curling in her blankets. After a while, she sighed, this wasn't her pillow. It was too thin and lumpy, Emma must have taken hers. She sat up and stretched. Several bones cracked, her muscles ached, like she had slept on the ground.

She looked around, and found herself face to face with several men with beards. Why did this keep happening!

She squeaked and retreated to the nearest wall. All of them got up at her movement. Most backed away from her, going off in different directions, trying not to make her feel uncomfortable, only three remained. Another three, the ones that didn't move, slowly walked towards her.

One, the tallest of all of them, had on gray robes, including a gray pointed hat and a long gray beard.

He spoke first.

"Are you alright my dear?" he said softly, stopping a few steps away from her.

That voice… she nodded. Kari still didn't know if she could trust them.

He sighed. "I'm sure you have questions, this must be very strange for you but I assure that-"

"**We** have questions as well Gandalf." Stated one of the shorter men. This one had on a rich blue and metal tunic and it was covered with a fur-lined cloak.

He turned towards her will a hard stare, Kari shrank back. His eyes widen then soften. He crouched down so he was eye level with her.

"Can you tell us your name, young one?" he said softly.

Kari swallowed. _I don't even know you… _"Tell me yours and ill consider telling you mine."

The tall one, Gandalf she thought she heard, chuckled. "My dear, you are in the presence of Thorin Oakenshield. This here is Balin," gesturing towards the one person left. Balin inclined his head ", my lady." "And I am Gandalf the Grey." Ah, she did hear right.

She nodded to herself. "Ok, ok. I have finally gone insane." Thorin and Balin looked at each other nervously but Gandalf looked amused.

"What on Middle Earth would ever draw you to that conclusion?" his eyes dancing with laughter.

"That thing I saw….that… what was that?! It tried to kill me! Then all of you! You have strange names and you're dressed from a different time! This doesn't make sense!" By this time she had stood up and was pacing in a small circle. "For all I know I fell down in the Oaks and I hit my head. Oh god, oh god, why?" her breathes started to come out rapidly.

"Thorin, Balin give me a moment with the girl." Gandalf told them. They left quickly, not knowing what to do with a woman when she was acting crazy. Thorin had already gone through that with Dis…he shuddered at the memory.

Once they were gone, the old wizard turned towards the young girl, who was now slumped against the side of the cliff, where they had made camp, with her head in her hands.

He walked towards her. "Are you alright, Karialynn?"

Her head shot up. "How do you know my name?"

He sighed and supported himself against his long walking stick. "I know much more than just your name, but right now that is not of importance, you to-"

He was cut off my Kari. "What do you mean not of importance?! How can you claim to know so much about me? Are you some type of stalker?!"

"Please, Karialynn, lower your voice, the dwarves cannot hear this conversation."

"Why not?" she said more quietly, she was starting to feel all hits landed on her yesterday.

"You see Karialynn-""Kari." "Hmm?" She turned her head toward him, although her eyes were closed.

"I don't like Karialynn, call me Kari." She stated softly. Gandalf smiled slightly.

"Kari, this is not the world you came from-"

"I already guessed that."

"-you cannot tell the dwarves, where you come from."

"Why do you keep calling them dwarves? They look pretty tall to me."

Kari turned her head to look at him. "My dear, I know it all sounds unrealistic but you must believe me. This world entirely is nothing you have ever set your eyes on."

"I don't understand they're all just people." Gesturing to the growing crowd of men on the other side of the camp. "The only thing that was unusual was that thing, umm the orc? And the clothes were wearing and the way you speak!"

His eyes turned solemn. "No, my dear there you are wrong. You have been fortunate to have only met _one _orc and not an entire pack. There are also many dangers hidden in the shadows. You must be careful and never venture alone."

Kari looked down. "I just want to go home." Her voice cracking.

Gandalf sighed. How was he supposed to tell this young girl that he had no idea if she would ever return.

"I am sure you do."

She snapped her head towards him. "Really? Is that really all you can say?" Her eyes began to water. "Why am I here? Why me?"

Again the old wizard was at loss of words. This girl spoke with such emotion in her words that it compelled you to respond to please but of course Gandalf did not have the answer. He did what Galadriel told him to do, without asking to many questions. It never occurred to him for some reason, that the girl would ask any such questions.

He looked up at the sky. Valar help him.

"You must have something very special for you to have been brought here. The Valar have always worked in mysterious ways. This is not an exception."

He turned to look at Kari. She searched his eyes and only found sincerity.

"You know, even though I only understand half of what you say, it makes me feel a little better that you're telling me the truth."

Gandalf took that as an 'I believe some of what you say, so ill begin to trust you.' He laughed. "Come, come young Kari. You have yet to meet the rest of the company." With one hand on her back, he began to push Kari towards the group of men that was now complete of 14.

When they reached them, Kari stood awkwardly in front of them. Several of them looked menacing, tattoos on their heads, scars adoring their face and…..is that an ax?!

"Kari, meet the company of Thorin Oakenshield, the dwarves of Erebor and Bilbo Baggins." Gandalf said gesturing towards the group.

Kari turned to look at them. Several were looking back at her with smiles while Thorin was throwing a glare at Gandalf. She looked around all of them to look for one of the least menacing. She saw a small man. He was shorter than her which was unusual since was always considered short being below average height. She walked towards him since apparently Thorin decided to pick a fight with Gandalf and she did not want to hear it.

The small man was fidgeting with his hands. He seemed really nervous. Kari frowned. What happened to him? She looked him over and almost stopped at the sight of his feet. They were bare and huge and hairy. She turned her gaze back to his face to find that he was staring back. He lifted a hand to say hi and smiled a half smile. That simple gesture gave her enough courage to finish walking up to him.

"Um, hi." She said nervously, he seemed nice.

"Hello, Kari was it?" He asked.

"Oh yes, Kari." She held out her hand. "And you are?"

He smiled and shook her hand. "Bilbo Baggins of Bag End." He leaned over toward her and whispered "; it's nice to see that there are dwarves out there that still have manners."

Kari frowned. What did dwarves having manners have to do with anything?

Bilbo's eyes grew wide. "Oh no, I mean-"

"Mr. Boggins! Aren't you going to introduce us to your new lady friend?" a new voice cut him off.

Bilbo released Kari's hand and both turned to look at the new additions to the conversation.

Two more guys came over, two complete opposites of each other. One was blond with pale skin while the other had dark brown hair and was tan. Kari's cheeks redden and averted her gaze elsewhere when she saw how handsome they were. Kari had always been shy, with everyone, but cute guys had a way of making her look stupid.

They looked expectantly at Bilbo.

"Ah yes! Kari this is-"

"Fili," the blond cut off Bilbo.

"And Kili," said the brunette.

"At your service!" This time it was said by both as they bowed.

Bilbo rolled his eyes, and walked away to find Myrtle.

Once they righted themselves, they smiled at her.

Kari gave them a small smile. "A pleasure to meet you."

The blond, Fili, steeped towards her. He lifted her hand and kissed it.

"No my lady, the pleasure is entirely ours." He said with his mouth still over her hand. He had his clear blue eyes trained on her. Kari gulped.

"Fili! Kili! Stop messing around and go help unload the supplies from the ponies!" Kari thought it was Thorin who yelled. Fili winked at her and straighten up and walked away. Kari watched him go, looking at the mane of hair he had, all the braids that were woven into it.

Someone cleared their throat. She turned back to see that Kili was still there.

He smiled at her. "Please forgive my brother; he just can't control himself around the female race." He stated a matter-a-factly.

Kari giggled. "Oh and you do?"

"Well I think I have my own thing don't you?" he turned his warm chocolate eyes on her.

Her face turned tomato red and looked away. Kili chuckled and turned his gaze to the ground. There was a moment of silence. Kari just wished he would leave then to drown herself in her embarrassment.

"There is one thing I wanted to tell you before I go." He spoke suddenly.

She still didn't look at him.

He sighed. "If you need anything, anything at all, you can come to me. I will be there to help, as will my brother. Do not hesitate to tell either of us should you need us."

He nodded to himself. He knew what she had gone through with both the orc and those vile men; what was going to happen to her. He also knew that she was just a girl as much as he was just a boy in everyone's eyes. She shouldn't have gone through that, and even though they had arrived just in time to stop them from leaving, there was still a voice in the back of Kili's head asking what would have happened if they had gotten there later. He remembered the insistence of Gandalf to go through different paths then the one originally planned. He had even gotten into an argument with Thorin, when he had told Gandalf that he was trying to distract them from their journey when they were cut off by a scream. Gandalf had been the first to run off in its direction.

"You don't even know me." Kari's voice brought him back to reality.

He looked at her. She also had her gaze on him and was frowning. To her everything these men said to her was unusual, were they all escaped mental patients?

He walked a couple a steps towards her.

"I know that you need someone to be there for you. I know that if I can help it you will never have to go through what those _men,_" he spit the word out ", were going to do to you. I don't have to know you, I can see in your eyes the truth and that's good enough for me."

Kari opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. Another yell for Kili sounded.

He inclined his head to her and walked away leaving behind a shocked Kari.

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Kari stared into the fire. The sky was dark now and most of the company were asleep or settling in. The only ones up were Gandalf, Balin, Kari, Fili and Kili, the last three sitting across from each other around the fire.

Out of the corner of her eye, Kari thought she saw Bilbo get up from his spot but she was more interested in her own thoughts to pay any attention to it.

It wasn't until she heard the screeching in a distance that she looked around with wide eyes. She met hers with Gandalf's. He gave her a small smile and shook his head ever so slightly. This eased Kari's mind a little.

"What was that?" said an equally nervous Bilbo walking back towards the small group around the fire.

"Orcs," answered Kili. His deep voice implied the danger of that simple word. Kari self-consciously passed a hand over the cuts and bruises on her arms.

"Orcs?" whimpered Bilbo.

Thorin jolts awake at this new piece of information.

"Throat-cutters. There'll be dozens of them out there. The lowlands are crawling with them." Fili answered this time. Kari just hoped they couldn't reach them where they were. If see never saw another orc in her life it would still be too soon.

"They strike in the wee small hours when everyone's asleep. Quick and quiet, no screams, just lots of blood." Kili's deep voice finished. Kari looked at him. He had his dark gaze on Bilbo, who was nervous again. Kari shivered, a single tear rolled down her cheek. What Kili was describing could have happened to her, it was too horrifying. She hid her head with her hair, her shoulders ever so slightly.

It was Thorin who saw Kari slowly breaking down, he felt pity for her, he really dis but he didn't know what to do with her. It broke his heart to see such a young girl go through the trauma of going against an orc but he couldn't take her with them. On their journey they were bound to cross more and then what would happen to her.

He shook his head; the decision was going to be difficult.

The low chuckles of his nephews made him pin his signature glare on them.

He was willing to support most of their pranks and jokes but this crossed the line. Both Bilbo and Kari were affected by what they said although they hadn't seen Kari to know exactly how much.

"You think that's funny?" Thorin growled. "You think a night raid by orcs is a joke?"

Both Kili's and Fili's faces dropped, ashamed.

"We didn't mean anything by it," Kili answered for both of them.

"No you didn't. Have you seen what harm your words have caused the girl? And how much more you nerved the hobbit?" he questioned them.

Their eyes widen and turned to look at Kari. She had lifted her head when she heard herself mentioned. There were still streaks on her cheeks left over from her silent tears.

The both opened their mouths to apologize but Thorin cut them off.

"Don't. You know nothing of the world," he said angrily as he stalked off to stand at the edge of the cliff and looked off into the distance.

Both of the young dwarf lads hung their heads. Not only had they disappointed their uncle and role model but they had messed with Kari and Bilbo and hurt their feelings by laughing at them.

"Don't mind him, laddie," said Balin as he walked over to where the small group was. "Thorin has more cause then most to hate orcs. After…" he paused looking at Kari. It still not been cleared if she were to join them and discretion of what their purpose were to remain a secret. He wasn't sure if the family stories were also off bounds.

"Balin just continue the tale. She is to be trusted. She probably won't understand half of it, since she doesn't know any of your history, this will be a first." Huffed Gandalf off to the side still half hidden by a tree.

Balin sighed and with one last look at Thorin he continued. If Thorin hadn't stopped him then it didn't matter. "After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient Dwarf Kingdom of Moria," Balin poured great emotion into the story, Kari had the feeling that he had been there from the way he spoke of the events as they unfold. Although too her it still didn't make sense. A dragon? But dragons don't exist right? _This is something entirely new to you. Something you've never seen. _Gandalf's voice sounded in her head. _Impossible, no, no it just can't…can it?_

Balin brought her out of her musings with the rest of the story. "But our enemy had got there first. Moria had been taken by legions of orcs led by the vilest of their entire race: Azog the Defiler. The giant gundabad orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin," he sighed ", he began…by beheading the king. Thrain, Thorin's father, was driven mad by grief. He went missing. Taken prisoner or killed we did not know. We were leaderless. Defeat and death were upon us."

He paused and smiled softly to himself. "That is when I saw him. A young dwarf prince facing this terrible foe. His armor rent, wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield. Azog the Defiler learned that day that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken." He looked down at the two youngest of the line. Kari followed his gaze to Fili and Kili. Again she found herself confused. If they were of this line of Durin wouldn't that make them related to Thorin? She almost groaned. Of course she saw some resemblance especially in Kili but how had she never made a connection?

"Our forces rallied and drove the orcs back and our enemy had been defeated. But there was neither feast nor song that night, for our dead were beyond the count of grief. We few had survived," his voice grew very soft.

_Out of a whole army they were the only survivors?_

He took a deep breath and finished this time with much more emotion then before ", and I thought to myself then, there is one who I could follow. There is one I could call king." Those words were said with such pride and adoration.

He turned to look at Thorin and so did Kari. She was surprised to see the rest of the company all standing and looking towards Thorin.

He turned towards his company and walked between them acknowledging them as he went.

"And the pale orc?" asked Bilbo when leader and followers had their moment. "What happened to him?"

This time it was Thorin who answered him. "He slunk back into the hole whence he came. That filth died of his wounds long ago."

He moved back to his original place. The rest of the company all returned to their places to sleep.

But there was still a little voice in the back in Kari's head as she also got ready to sleep against the tree Gandalf was positioned. He smiled as she came over to where he was but other than that said nothing. She had nothing other than the clothes on her back and the sword she had found, which had been returned to her by the company after they rescued her, so she would just have to do with her cloak.

Once she was settled down, her mind began to wonder. Whatever did happen to that creature? Thorin had said it died but had he gone and seen it with his own eyes?

She shuddered as she closed her eyes and tried to go to sleep. She couldn't shake the feeling of being watched.

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Off in the distance on the opposite cliff from where the dwarfs found themselves was a single orc astride a warg. This creature had been sent on patrol when there was talk that dwarf-scum was near. All it had to do was watch and report back to Azog. It showed its teeth in in tempt of those smiles orcs made but it quickly fell as his eyes finally reached the single female of the group. It growled and self-consciously raked a clawed hand over his scared face. The very same scars Kari had left over from their encounter.

Oh if it were up to him she would not have lived to see daylight but he knew better, there were to many protectors for her, fighters, and Azog had said to watch not attack.

No, he wouldn't have his fun now, he would wait, until she was alone, then she would suffer. He would make sure of that.

**I hope you liked this I really do.**

**If any of you have any suggestions, concerns or see something wrong, please tell me really, I don't mind and I swear I will try my very best to make it better for you guys since you are the ones who read it.**

**Thanks and review(:**


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